After the Skill Evaluation

Scattered Cherry Blossoms Universe, Human World, Japan, Kuoh. 

Scáthach's evaluation of Tatsuo's, Aletia's, and Tio's capabilities took a few hours. When it was over, the five returned to the mansion's living room. Yet, there were much fewer people present when they got back. 

"Welcome back, James." Venelana said from a table where she sat with Leona, Rhea, and Yasaka. However, when she noticed the lost expression on James' face, she tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Is something wrong? Do you need a hug?" 

Naturally, the reason for James' expression was what Ddraig said to him while the evaluation was going on. However, there was no way he would tell anyone about that. So, in response to Venelana's offer, although he really wanted to let her hug him while he buried his face between her breasts, he shook his head in the end. 

"Are you sure?" Venelana asked while straightening her back and making her large breasts more prevalent. 

"Mom~! Please stop trying to seduce my fiancée." Rias said, sounding more exasperated than angry. 

"*Sigh* Rias, why do you have to be so stingy?" Venelana asked while pulling a handkerchief from her cleavage and using it to wipe away a fake tear. "If you would just be more generous, James wouldn't have to struggle with his instincts so much." 

"Me? Stingy?" Rias asked, her eyebrows rising in annoyance. 

And with that, the mother-daughter pair began to bicker. And while Venelana seemed to be having fun, Rias seemed to be growing angrier and angrier as time went by. Meanwhile, James and Scáthach led Tatsuo, Aletia, and Tio to sit down, advising them not to pay attention to the mother-daughter squabble. 

"So, how did it go?" Kunou asked, scurrying over to James' side as soon as he sat down. 

Though she was speaking to James, Kunou constantly stole glances at Tatsuo. And when Tatsuo noticed, he turned to smile at her, which caused her face to redden rather quickly. 

"Well, I think Master would be able to answer you better than I could." James said while shaking his head at Kunou's rather obvious crush. 

Though her face was still red, Kunou, with her tails wagging slowly, turned to ask Scáthach bout her evaluation of Tatsuo and his companions. However, the legendary trainer of heroes answered before she could even open her mouth again. 

"They are all rather impressive." Scáthach said. "The young vampire may be just as talented as Rossweisse." 

Hearing that, Kunou's eyes widened. She then turned to look at Aletia, who was sitting on Tatsuo's lap. And when she saw that, a hint of envy flickered in her eyes. Even so, she was still amazed that Scáthach had given her such high praise. Especially since Rossweisse was hands down the best mage that she knew. 

As for Aletia's reactions, she was curious to know who this Rossweisse was. However, she was even more bothered by being called a young vampire. Even if she was forever fifteen years old, until Tatsuo turned sixteen, that is. 

At the same time, Tatsuo noticed Aletia's displeasure at being called young. But he was not dumb enough to tell her that Scáthach was at least five times older than her actual age. Mainly because he knew how rude it was to mention a ladies age. But more importantly, he was not sure he would survive the attempt. He had no delusions that he could survive if Scáthach wanted him dead, after all. 

"As for the dragon woman, she is skilled in both hand-to-hand combat and the use of magic." Scáthach continued. "Though, she is not as finely polished in either as I would deem acceptable. However, I suspect that is because she had no one strong enough to push her to improve any further living in her tribe." 

"Well, I was indeed the strongest member of my tribe." Tio replied with a nod. She then turned to look at Tatsuo with a blush and slightly labored breathing. "But I did manage to find someone stronger than me not too long ago." 

"*Sigh*" Tatsuo could only sigh at Tio's fervor. He then turned to look at Kunou, the smile returning to his face. "By the way, I don't think we've been introduced. Hi, I'm Soramoto Tatsuo. It's nice to meet you." 

With Tatsuo smiling at her directly, Kunou tried her best to hide behind James. Even so, her ears and tails could be seen. And from the way they were twitching and wagging, respectively, it was easy to tell how she felt about Tatsuo introducing himself to her. 

"Come on, now, Kunou." James said, chiding his stepdaughter lightly. "I know you were taught better than that. Introduce yourself." 

Hearing James' tone, Kunou raised her head. However, when she saw the mischief in his eyes, she knew that he was really enjoying the way she was squirming in front of her first crush. 

Kunou then glanced over at where her mother was sitting with the other mothers, excluding Irene, who was not in the living room at the moment. But she regretted that almost immediately, as she could see not only her mother, Yasaka, but Leona, Venelana, Rias, and Rhea watching her with interest. 

"OH... Uh... Um... Hi." Kunou stammered out, while trying not to pout at the fact that everyone was looking at her as entertainment, as she poked her head out from around James. "I'm Kunou. It's nice to meet you, too." 

With Kunou so close, Tatsuo finally got a good look at her. And it was clear to anyone who saw her that Kunou would grow up to be just as, if not more beautiful and voluptuous than her mother, Yasaka, as Kunou was already beginning to fill out. Though, she definitely would not end up as tall. 

Kunou had delicate facial features just like her mother, shoulder-length, golden blond hair tied into a ponytail, eyes of the same color, a pair of golden fox ears and nine fox tails. Also, she wore a white t-shirt and a red pleated skirt that reached her knees. She was also a bit taller than Tatsuo expected, standing at just under 5' tall. 

Meanwhile, with Tatsuo looking her up and down, Kunou's embarrassment returned with a vengeance. So, she hid behind James again, this time not even able to peak around her stepfather to sneak glances at Tatsuo. So, she once again turned to Scáthach, instead. 

"And what about Soramoto-San, Oba-Sama?" Kunou asked, curiosity burning brightly in her eyes. 

Seeing how cute Kunou was, Scáthach let a rare smile make it onto her lips as she replied. 

"He may be even more talented than my disciple." Scáthach said, starting her evaluation of Tatsuo's talents. "Not only is he skilled in hand-to-hand combat, much more skilled than his age would suggest, but he is also skilled in a variety of cold weapons and firearms. Though, he is the most skilled in the use of daggers. He has very little in the way of a magical foundation. Yet, he can do many things that he should not be able to, based on his level of knowledge." 

"Yeah, and that's because of that bullshit [Skill], [The End]." James said, Jealousy once again entering his tone. "I mean, seriously. If I had a skill like that, I would have already reached the Apocalypse Class by just learning a concept by watching someone else do it." 

"[The End]?" Rhea asked while tilting her head. "That's not a skill or ability I can say that I'm familiar with." 

"*Sigh* That's because it's not native to this reality, Mother." Sona said while shaking her head. 

"Then, what does it do?" Yasaka asked curiously. 

James then, with is envy on full display, explained [The End] and what it did. And by the time he was done, everyone in the room was staring at Tatsuo with their eyes and mouths opened wide in dumbfounded amazement. 

"Damn... If I had found him first instead of that dimwit, the whole mess with Toguro would have gone a lot smoother." Genkai, still with a PlayStation controller in her hand, said in a grumpy tone. 

"You probably wouldn't have died and needed to be reincarnated as a Devil either." James pointed out. "Because I'm pretty sure that Tatsuo would have never had an issue taking down Toguro if he were in Yusuke's place." 

"*Sigh* Yes, that's more than likely true." Genkai replied while shaking her head. She then turned back to the television and unpaused the game. 

"Wait... Are you saying that you can copy any ability as long as you can see it in action, Tatsuo?" Venelana asked, not able to wrap her head around what she just heard. "Does that mean you could learn the Bael Clan's [Power of Destruction]?" 

Instead of replying, Tatsuo looked away awkwardly. He then raised his right hand with the palm up. A moment later, an orb of crackling black, red, and purple [Energy] appeared floating over his palm. And although the coloration was different, it was clear to Venelana that this orb of [Energy] was the [Power of Destruction]. The only difference was there was no Demonic Power involved in its conjuration. 

While Rias was not surprised, as she had seen Tatsuo do something similar back at the Wyvern's Nest in the ICDS Universe, Venelana was completely caught off guard. In fact, it took her nearly a minute to get her shock under control. 

Meanwhile, Tatsuo, seeing that Venelana.exe had stopped working, calmly dispersed the [Power of Destruction] floating over his palm before lowering his hand. He then looked around, trying his best to change the subject. 

"So, where did everyone else go?" Tatsuo asked curiously. 

"Most of them are probably in their rooms." James replied. "Grayfia and Zest are most likely in the kitchen preparing lunch, though." 

Hearing that Grayfia, who he knew was a good cook from James' recollections in the [Chat], was already cooking, Tatsuo was disappointed. He was hoping to observe Grayfia while she cooked to increase his [Cooking Skill], something that he had only recently understood the importance of. 

"Hold on!" Venelana said, almost shouting. 

Venelana then stood up from her seat, drawing everyone's attention. She then walked across the living room before stopping in front of Tatsuo and Aletia, who was sitting in Tatsuo's lap. Then, with a stern expression on her face, she spoke to give Tatsuo a warning. 

"I'm not faulting you for the abilities you have, Tatsuo." Venelana said in a solemn tone. "But I would suggest not letting others know that you can do that." 

As she spoke her last sentence, Venelana pointed at the hand Tatsuo used to summon the orb of [Power of Destruction]. 

"At least not in this world, anyway." Venelana continued. "The Devil nobility takes great pride in their bloodline abilities. So, to see someone not of their bloodline using them would cause quite the stir. If you're lucky, they'll try to invite you into their peerages, with less than pleasant means. But if you're unlucky, they might order your elimination, no questions asked." 

In response, Tatsuo's expression turned solemn, as well. At the same time, he made eye contact with Venelana. 

"I understand." Tatsuo replied. "I only showed that off because James trusts you all. And although I've only known him for a few months, I feel I can trust him. Meaning, I trust you all because he trusts you." 

Tatsuo's expression then turned bestial as he smiled savagely. 

"But if for some reason any of them try to do anything to me or those I treasure to coerce me into joining their peerage, for any reason..." Tatsuo said as his aura exploded out of his body, causing everyone under the Ultimate-Rank to freeze in place. "Then, they should probably start sleeping with one eye open. Because, although I'm good at fighting head on, I'm more suited to striking from a dead angle when they least expect it." 

After speaking his peace, Tatsuo reeled in his aura while simultaneously deactivating [Dragon fear], which was activated when his emotions spiked. 

Around the room, the reactions to Tatsuo's little outburst were quite varied. 

Aletia and Tio, who were the targets of Tatsuo's protection in this case, looked at him like love struck fools. Meanwhile, those above the Ultimate-Rank, meaning those who reached the Minor God-Rank at the very least, raised an eyebrow. They all found the pressure Tatsuo could release as a High-Rank being impressive. Though, Scáthach was not as impressed as everyone else. She felt that she would have to correct Tatsuo's habit of activating [Dragon Fear] based on his emotional state during their training. 

'At least he managed to limit it to only the living room, though.' Scáthach thought to herself while observing Tatsuo. 'Had it leaked any further, the training he would go through to control it would be even harsher.' 

At that moment, Tatsuo shivered, feeling that he just dodged a bullet. However, he had no idea why he even had that feeling. 

Those at the Ultimate-Rank all showed surprise in their expressions. Although they were not frozen by Tatsuo's aura, they were surprised that it affected them as much as it did. 

Lastly, there were the few who were under the Ultimate-Rank. Namely, Leona, Kunou, Mio, Maria, and Kokoa. 

The most negative reaction came from Mio, who felt threatened by Tatsuo's aura. As for the other three, they were all staring at Tatsuo with stars in their eyes. Though, Kokoa tried her best to hide her reaction. Kunou and Maria, on the other hand were very obviously crushing on the purple-haired half-dragon. Maria even had to wipe her mouth to stop herself from drooling. Her instincts as a succubus were telling her to give herself to Tatsuo right now, despite the fact that shew as two years older than him. 

"Sorry about that." Tatsuo said while smiling sheepishly after seeing all the eyes on him. "I got a little excited." 

*Sniff!* 

As soon as Tatsuo's words ended, the sound of someone sniffling could be heard throughout the living room. And when everyone looked to the sound's source, they saw Leona dabbing her eyes with a napkin. 

"He's a boy after my own heart." Leona said, her words a reply to Tatsuo's declaration. 

"Of course, his words would touch Mom." James muttered while shaking his head. "You know, after seeing you acting like a housewife for so long, I sometimes forget you were an assassin, Mom." 

"Then that means I still got it." Leona replied with a wide, infectious smile while dropping the napkin on the table. "Because if you can tell that I'm an assassin, then that means I'm doing something wrong."

Hearing the exchange between James and Leona, Tatsuo widened his eyes in surprise. Though, he ended up nodding his head in agreement with Leona's declaration. He then snapped his head in James' direction. 

"Seriously, you mom's an assassin, too?" Tatsuo asked. 

"Oh yeah, now that you mention it..." James said while stroking his chin. "You said that your mom used to be an assassin for the same organization that kidnapped you and trained you, right? Yeah, I guess our parents are similar in that regard, huh?" 

This time it was Leona's turn to have her eyes light up. She then [Flash Stepped] in front of Tatsuo and grabbed his hands excitedly. 

"Your mother was... or is... an assassin, too?" Leona asked with palpable excitement in her tone. "Oh, I wanna meet her." 

"Yeah, she was." Tatsuo replied with a nod, not pulling his hand away as he did so. "Apparently, DOATEC found her after she first came to my home world. Then, they took her in and trained her." 

Tatsuo's statement received mixed reactions. Most of them were in confusion after finding out that Tatsuo's mother was not originally from his home reality. Then, there was one pink-haired Reincarnated Devil who had been sitting in front of the television and playing video games ever since Tatsuo and the others arrived. 

At first, she looked at Tatsuo with surprise. Then, she turned her attention back to the game she was playing. And when she remembered the name of the stage she was fighting on, DOA Colosseum. She then wondered what it would be like to go to a world where the characters from one of her favorite fighting games were real. 

"Lunch is ready should you like to eat at this time.' Grayfia said, cutting through the silence before anyone could speak on the topic any further. Though, Leona, who was also an avid gamer turned to look at Genkai, coincidentally making eye contact with the former psychic in the process. They then both nodded at each other, deciding right then and there that they would make James take them to Tatsuo's world at some point in the future.